It wasn’t supposed to be like this for USC head coach Clay Helton.
His narrative was all set up to be a heroic one. Passed over for the top spot as the storied Trojans program cast its glance elsewhere just like the meme of the guy looking back while walking with his girlfriend, Helton had a chance to write a storybook ending once he finally got his big opportunity. A Rose Bowl win in his first full season was a promising opening chapter.
Alas, things have been anything but rosy since, and after a miserable 2018, Helton and USC find themselves back at an unenviable crossroads after just three games. Any joy they took in thrashing Stanford to go to 2-0 in Week 2 quickly evaporated in an overtime loss to unranked BYU last Saturday. The Trojans are now out of the top 25 themselves because even though poll voters might want to believe USC is good again, they can sense the feeling of impending doom swirling around the team.
When you lose your starting quarterback for the season, the athletic director resigns and you have a brutal upcoming stretch featuring two ranked conference opponents and longtime rival Notre Dame, it’s only natural that people start believing you’re trending the wrong way.
But there’s still plenty of time left in the season for a plot twist or two, beginning with this weekend’s visit from No. 10 Utah — the top-ranked team in the Pac-12, as a sign of how times have changed. The 3-0 Utes haven’t exactly played a formidable non-conference schedule, but they’ve proven to have both a stingy D (giving up less than points a game) and an offense that has a little more zip to it than one might have expected before the season started. Quarterback Tyler Huntley (four TDs, zero INTs, 77.8 completion percentage and a 195.9 rating) has been nearly flawless so far, the receiving corps is deep and running back Zack Moss is also off to a superb start.
If you’re a believer in performance against common opponents meaning anything, there’s also this: After a slow start, Utah pulled away from BYU in its season opener and made life miserable for the Cougars in the second half, scoring twice on pick-sixes en route to a 30-12 victory that really wasn’t even that close.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster for a team that already has every right to be a bit unsettled and is starting unheralded true freshman Kedon Slovis at quarterback. It could very well turn out that way, but a tough test is also an opportunity to make a statement, and the Trojans have every chance to do just that.
Any list of hopeful signs has to start with the way Slovis has handled himself since unexpectedly being thrust into the limelight. The 18-year-old displayed poise beyond his age in his first start, completing 28 of 33 passes for 377 yards, three touchdowns and no picks against Stanford. Slovis incorporated all of his top targets, including wide receivers Tyler Vaughns, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Michael Pittman Jr., into the attack, making it look like USC might not miss a beat with J.T. Daniels out.
The BYU game pumped the brakes on Slovis-mania just a bit, as the Cougars picked him off three times, including a game-sealing INT in overtime. Still, that tilt was on the road, and Slovis’ only memories of playing at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum are pleasant ones so far.
Multiple units should be playing like they have something to prove in support of Slovis. That starts with the secondary, which has looked like the inexperienced bunch that it is at times. The stats don’t show it as the Trojans have yet to yield a 300-yard passing game, but they also haven’t exactly been playing against top-notch opposing signal-callers. Huntley will be the best quarterback the defensive backs have faced to date, and they should relish the challenge.
The offensive line would also be well-served to face Utah with a chip on its collective shoulder. The pass blocking has been fine, allowing only three sacks over the last two games, but the running game has been inconsistent and produced only in spurts. If the line can open holes in the stout Utah front, Helton and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell might want to let Markese Stepp have more cracks at exploiting them, as the freshman back is averaging 7.2 yards per carry.
Most of all, though, all of the Trojans should be playing as if their pride is on the line. The Pac-12 South hasn’t exactly been theirs by right since it was first formed — USC has won the division just three times in eight years — but with UCLA in disarray and the Arizona schools still finding identities, it should still belong to them even when things aren’t sticking to the script. Saturday’s game is a chance for USC to re-establish itself as the team to beat in the South while simultaneously avenging last year’s double-digit defeat to the Utes. If the Trojans can’t find enough motivation to play their best football so far amidst all of those factors, things really might be bleak the rest of the way.
It’s tempting to throw the “win one for Coach Helton” cliche into the mix too, but the coach’s saga is almost destined to end in tragedy instead of triumph. The new AD, whoever it might be that replaces Lynn Swann, will want their own man, and the alumni will undoubtedly be clamoring for a sexier name as well. Nothing short of a College Football Playoff run would even cool down Helton’s hot seat a few degrees, and the Trojans are far from looking that part at the moment.
But except for that, a big home win against the presumptive new Pac-12 South power would cure a lot of what ails the Trojans. The players need this to feel better about fighting on for the remainder of 2019. The fans need this. Hell, even Traveler would probably feel like his oats taste better if USC can take down Utah.
It stinks the Trojans are even facing such a potential fork in the road so early, but if they can pull together on Saturday, they just might recapture a bit of the old USC swagger before we close the book on this season.